Ego S.
Google
Ok, i've lived in the Bronx for a good amount of years & learned about this place as of recently.
Its in a really busy area under elevated trains & lots of little shops that seem to sell specialty items, music is abundant, loud & proud & parking is double & triple everywhere.
You get to the corner where its situated and are instantly taken aback by a 'B' rating, which has 6 months to be taken care of in NYC.
The decor is dated but cozy there is a restaurant portion, where i saw 1st date in lust couples happily eating. The front is more bar-esque with bar seating and a counter. The staff is somewhat attentive & courteous whilst juggling phone orders & language barriers, they all look like members of a Korean boy band 😃
They ONLY accept cash!
The food is portioned well & although was nothing like what i expected, tasty. The pork fried rice is 'Not' the old school fried rice of lore i was expecting, no egg, shallots, sprouts, just a lot of soy sauce & onion, not the de jour hood yellow rice we all endure now, but tasty.
The Bistec Palomilla was not guisado as per tradition but seared nicely & flavorful 👍🏽
The shrimp Mofongo was not traditionally infused with garlic or cracklin or anything, just plantain. Which is fine because i've had it this way too, where the sauce is the star. This restaurants take on it did not falter, although tiny baby shrimp was used, but once again i was pleasantly surprised because the sauce was tasty.
The Ropa Vieja was my least favorite as it was nothing like Cuban ropa vieja, the meat used was not shredded but thinly sliced fatty cuts. Kudos for the attempt & the chefs interpretation but alas Not ropa vieja, but tasty nonetheless.
The popular iced tea they sell, tastes just like the old school 4c powdered ice tea, we all grew up with.
Oh the eggrolls! Cannot forget the eggrolls!! They were not the size of a burrito like days long gone, more like spring rolls now, but they seemed 'meatier' than the hood variants we all endure & once again tasty 👍🏽
Would i come back...Probably, if on a fine Summers day, i wanted some chino latino or a different take on chinese food, didnt want to spend a lot of money & there was actually parking 🤗